Meatballs recipe is delicious minced meat (or ground meat) that is fried, baked, steamed, or braised and often cooked in a sauce. Any type of meat can be used to make meatballs, the common being beef, chicken, pork, turkey, sausages, or a combination of these types of meat. Homemade meatballs recipe can be made with different kinds of ingredients such as minced or grated onions, eggs, breadcrumbs, some herbs or vegetables, seasoning, and spices. For this easy homemade meatballs recipe, I will be using only beef; you can yours with pork if you like that.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- 1 kg of Ground Beef/Minced Beef
- 1/2 cup of Breadcrumbs
- 1 medium-sized grated Onion and 1 cup of chopped onion.
- 5 minced Garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese
- 2 cups of Tomato sauce and 2 tbsp of Tomato paste
- 1 cup of Beef broth
- 4 tbsp of chopped Parsley
- 1/2 tsp of Salt
- 1 Egg
- 1/2 tsp of Black Pepper Powder
- 1 tsp of Beef Bouillon Seasoning
- 5 tbsp of Cooking Oil
- 1tsp of Paprika Powder
How to make Meatballs
Seasoning and mixing the ground beef
- In a large bowl containing the ground beef, add 3 minced garlic, 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder, 1/4 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of bouillon seasoning, 1/2 tsp of paprika powder.
- Also, add the 1 grated onion, 2 tbsp of finely chopped parsley, and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese.
- Use your clean hands and mix thoroughly to combine until all the ingredients are completely mixed with the ground beef.
- Now break 1 egg and add to the ground beef mixture and then add the breadcrumb, a little at a time while mixing to combine the egg, breadcrumbs, and the ground beef mixture. The egg helps to bind the ingredients together so that you can mold the ground beef into meatballs.
Making the meatballs
- Use an ice cream scoop and then scoop the ground beef mixture so as to have equal sizes of meatballs. Use your hand to mold and roll the minced beef into rounded balls. You dip your fingers in oil and rub on your palms to help prevent the meat from sticking while molding into meatballs.
- Arrange the meatballs on a flat plate that is wide enough to accommodate all the meatballs. Stacking them while they are wet and uncooked can easily distort their shapes.
Frying or braising the meatballs recipe
There are various ways of cooking meatballs. You can make meatballs by steaming, frying, braising, or baking in an oven; but in this meatball recipe, the fresh meatballs are first braised before cooking in a tomato-based sauce.
- Place a pan on the heat and add 2 tbsp of cooking oil to it. Allow to oil to heat up.
- Now, bring the meatballs into the hot oil. Braise each side of the meatballs for 2 minutes. Do not overcrowd the pan as you need to flip over with a tong while braising, hence you will need enough space in the pan.
- When you are done braising the meatballs, remove and keep them aside.
Cook the meatballs in a sauce
- Using the same pan for braising the meatballs, add 3 tbsp of cooking oil. Allow the oil to heat up.
- Add 1 cup of chopped onions and stir fry until it is fragrant then add 2 minced garlic cloves. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Now, add 2 cups of tomato sauce and 2 tbsp of tomato paste. Stir and cook the sauce for 5 minutes.
- Start seasoning the meatballs sauce; add 1/4 tsp of paprika powder, 1/2 tsp of black pepper powder, and 1/2 tsp of salt.
- Also, add 1 cup of beef broth to the sauce; stir to combine, and add 1 tbsp of chopped parsley and stir again.
- Then, bring the meatballs into the sauce, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. You can stir in between while the meatballs cook to ensure even cooking.
Your homemade meatballs recipe is ready. It can be eaten with spaghetti, mashed potatoes, rice, and any recipe that calls for stew or curry.
There are various ways to cook meatballs; you can use instant pot, crock pot, slow cooker, or air fryer. It all depends on what method you like best.
Variations
There is no single way of making a meatball recipe. There are variations in the ingredients used especially for making meatball sauce and some people combine different types of meat such as ground beef and pork to make their own meatball recipe.
Swedish meatballs recipe:
The recipe for Swedish meatballs consists of meatballs served with gravy, pickled cucumber, lingonberry jam, and boiled potatoes.
Italian meatballs Recipe
In Italy, meatballs are referred to as polpette. Italian meatballs recipe is mainly beef and/or pork. This recipe is similar to the Italian meatball recipe but one thing to note is that Italians don’t eat meatballs with spaghetti.
Greek meatballs
Greek meatballs mostly have a mix of bread and mint leaf. The fried meatballs are known as keftédes (κεφτέδες) and when cooked in a stew, they are called yuvarlákia.
Asian meatballs
In China, meatballs are usually made with pork are some varieties are known as pork balls. Additional ingredients may include soy sauce.
In the middle east and southeast Asia, meatballs are mostly made with beef or lamb where they are called Kofta. They are often served with rice and spicy sauce.